You Promised
by dragonfire onna
Summary: [AU] Mamoru 10 and Usagi 8 were childhood friends, but when Usagi is forced to move, Mamoru promises to wait for her. When she finally returns after 8yrs, she finds him engaged to her old elementary school rival: Molly. What’s a girl to do?
1. Prologue: Say Goodbye

**AN:** This is kind of my second Sailor Moon fic. Anyway, any comments are welcomed, and very much needed ^_^ since I want to become a professional writer one day.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any Sailor Moon characters. I am _disclaiming_ them…get it? Disclaimer…*dead silence* heh… This will apply for all my chapters. I do, however own any rights I have to this fic. I do have rights, right? O.o;;

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**You Promised**:

By: dragonfire onna

**Prologue: **_Say Goodbye_

"Does Mamoru _have_ to go?"

A young, bouncy girl came to a sudden halt with her mother's stern voice. She had been dreading this moment since his foster mother arrived at the door with freshly baked sugar cookies, as always. The two mothers would talk for awhile, which gave her and Mamoru more time to talk and play, but now their time was up…forever.

"Say your goodbyes, Usagi. I know you won't see him again, but there is still email and letters, right?" The little girl nodded, her eyes glued to the floor. She turned her head towards her mother.

"Could you give us five more minutes, mommy?" Her mother gave her a quick nod before stepping out of the room and into the tidy kitchen with the other woman following closely behind. Usagi grabbed Mamoru by the sleeve and pulled him upstairs into her room, flipping over the "Do Not Disturb" sign. 

The black-haired boy with deep sapphire eyes hopped on her bed and stared at her, little emotion in his eyes. She knew better though. It was just his way to keep from crying. She, on the other hand, always let the tears flow freely, and now was no exception.

Usagi ran over to him and gave him the biggest hug she could muster, burying her head into his open arms.

"I promise to write everyday," she said with a small sniff. She backed away from him to let him up. She stepped aside and bowed her head to the ten-yea-old boy in front of her, the boy she has had a crush on for nearly two years now, and the boy who was her best friend in the entire world.

"I'll wait for you, Usagi, until you come back to Japan. I promise." And he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and placed a small box in her hands before running down the stairs and out the door. He couldn't stand the thought of never seeing his beloved friend again. She was always so cheerful and was very bright, despite what others thought of her. Even the two years age difference didn't affect their friendship. She was eight, and he was ten. As simple as that, though his other friends didn't understand why he would want to hang out with a cootie-infested girl. He always told him he didn't believe in cooties.

Usagi ran to her bedroom window, just in time to see Darien hop into his car with his mother and drive away. She waved after him.

"Goodbye, Mamoru." She watched until he disappeared from sight and then turned her attention to the box. She carefully opened it and peered curiously at what was inside. "It's so beautiful…" Usagi tied it around her neck. The star-shaped locket played a wondrous, romantic tune and had a sold gold chain.

"Usagi! It's time for us to go now too," her mother called up the stairs. Usagi hopped off her bed and slowly made her way to her mother. "Isn't this going to be exciting? Moving to the United States and making new friends?" Her mother was as cheerful as she use to be.

"Yeah…fun." Usagi forced out the word to make her mother happy, but couldn't change her facial expressions. 

"Don't worry, sweetie. I'm sure you'll see him again. After all, you have your grandmother Nani here and you can come out and visit from time to time during the summer and on breaks," she said with hope in her eyes. She didn't like seeing her little girl like this.

"Yes mama…" She shoved the sob back into her throat and wiped away the tears with her shirt.

"Now why don't you go get Sammy and buckle him in his car seat?" Usagi nodded and did as she was told. She loved her brother to bits and pieces. Her mother and father had left her name him, and she had always liked the name Sammy, even though it was an American name. He was the only one in the entire family who didn't have a Japanese name.

"Sammy's in his seat now, mama," Usagi said as she pointed to the taxi. The two climbed into the car and headed to the air. Except for a few prized possessions, they all left with relatively nothing but some clothing and a few necessities. 

They were moving because of her mother's boyfriend. They had become serious and he had asked her to move in with him. It was last summer when he came out to visit them in Japan with his two bratty children and asked her to move to America with him. She had declined at first, thinking of her own family, but had given in after awhile. Now they left everything in their house, and sold it with the house.

Usagi never liked her mother's boyfriend. He was a horrible man that wanted to take her real birth father's place in her life, in her mother's life. It wasn't fair. She would have been upset with her mother for allowing him into their lives had it not been for the fact that her mother and brother was all she really had left. Her real father, a good, honest man, died four years ago, one year after the birth of her little five-year-old brother, was a decent and respectable businessman.

"To the airport, please." Usagi turned over in her seat to get a last look at her old house and weakly whispered 'bye' to it before the taxi made a turn and her house was lost out of site.

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**AN:** I know it was short, but that's only because it was a good place to end it. I've got more, and I'll get out longer chapters, probably around 5-6 pages long each, if that helps any.

Alright, so how was it? Good, bad? Needs a lot more work? More details? Anything you're confused about? Just please review and tell me what you think.


	2. Ch 1: Get Over It

**AN:** Hey guys, here's the next chapter. This is about the average length of my chapters, btw. Anyway, read the bottom AN for more info on the next chapter and this fanfic in general. And don't forget to review!

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**You Promised**

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**Chapter 1:** _Get Over It_

***** America, three years later. [Usagi: 11; Sammy: 8]

            "Hey! Give that back!" Usagi screamed into her stepsister's ear as loudly as she could to startle her. Didn't work.

            "Make me!" said the snotty girl with long blonde hair and big green eyes. She was wearing a frilly pink dress that didn't suit her personality at all. It was cute; she wasn't. It had been Usagi's dress, until her stepfather had 'accidentally' mixed up the laundry and said that his precious daughter was too attached to the dress to give it back. It was just like him to do that. He had always favored his children more and had no problem letting Sammy and her know that. But as soon as their mother came home, the 'perfect family' came into play.

Now the rotten kid had her locket that Mamoru had given her two long years ago. She was _not_ getting that. Usagi was prepared to do everything she could to get it back. 

            "Let go, Jamie!" Usagi extended her arm and caught some of her sister's hair in her hand and yanked hard. A bloodcurdling scream echoed throughout the house and into the ears of her father. 

Usagi looked down in her hands and saw a chunk of hair. A _large_ chunk. She put both hands behind her back and ran behind the couch, cowering and afraid of the masculine footsteps racing towards her.

            "Jamie? What's going on?" asked her fatherly figure, worry-etched into his manly voice.

            "Papa! She pulled my hair out and stole my locket!" Usagi heard a growl and she trembled behind the couch, praying he wouldn't find her there. She clutched the locket to her chest and curled up into a tight ball.

            "Just look at your beautiful hair—ruined! I swear when I find her, she'll be punished severely…" Usagi could feel his angry eyes land upon the couch and she backed up against the wall and shut her eyes.

            'Mama…Mamoru…' she silently cried out to the two people that could help her but weren't there. She tucked the locket into her sweater pocket and leaned out from behind the couch. 'Mama, why did you have to marry this man…?'

            "Get out from there, you wretched girl!" She darted for her little brother's room but was suddenly yanked backwards as her stepfather had caught her own hair. He dragged her over to the couch and sat down.

            Usagi knew what was coming. She struggled with his arms around her, holding her down. Along with his fatherly-duties came the decisions of punishments for the crimes.

"Get the belt, Jamie." Usagi could just see the sneering grin on her stepsister's face as she left to find it. Usagi balled her hands into a fist and fought back the tears. A few seconds later, she returned, a large, leather belt at least 2 ½ inches wide.    

            "No! Please leave me alone, I promise not to do it again! Let me go, please!" He put her onto his knee. "Please! I promise I won't, I promise!" Her voice was drowned out by her sobbing when he spanked her with the overly sized 'whip'. 

            Sammy came out of his room, his expression one of shock.

            "Leave her alone," shouted Sammy, tackling his father's arm and trying to get the belt away from him. He succeeded and was able to rip the belt away out of the very surprised man's grip. Sammy ran to the window and hastily opened it and threw it out.

            Usagi, once free, grabbed Sammy by the wrists and dragged him across the room into his room, slamming it shut and locking it. She pushed a chair up against the door. 

She knew the routine. He'd come here in five minutes and warn her not to tell her mother, and then go about life as if it never happened. He wanted to give his wife the impression that they had an ideal family. He would buy them gifts often with the money he was provided by the government, but only around their mother.

Neither her brother nor she ever told their mother about their punishments. They didn't want to break that happy smile they received when she came home from a hard day's work and gave them a hug and a kiss. 

It wasn't as if he abused them though. Everything he did was within allowance of the law mostly. He just put them to work and favored his children more than them, so he ended up giving Usagi and Sammy their chores too. He fed them all the same, though that might have been just because their mother was there.

Sammy startled her out of her thoughts.

"Usa…why won't you fight back?" She gave her brother a small shake of her head before wrapping him in her skinny, pale arms. Usagi pulled him close and hugged him.

            "I'm not strong enough, Sammy. You know that…" she whispered with a small, painful sigh. She would be defiant if she could. 

Usagi reached for her locket and opened it to hear the music. The same tune over and over…and the batteries never died. She didn't think it even had batteries, and if that was true, then she had no clue what kept it going.

            Usagi watched as her little brother fell asleep on her knee, curled up into a tiny ball. He was shivering, so she gently lifted him onto his bed in their room and neatly pulled the blankets over him. As soon as she closed the locket, the music cut off and drifted away from their ears as an echo would.

            "Good night, Sammy. I'll be back later, okay?" she softly said to him, patting him on his shoulder. He rolled over and started to snore and Usagi laughed. She wanted to go visit her friend Raye at her shrine. It was a beautiful shrine, newly painted and renovations were just made last summer. Shrines were a rare sight indeed in America; at least that's what she had come to believe. In Japan, they were seen at least one in every city.

            Raye was Usagi's best friend in America, and one of her only friends. She was the one that taught her English really. She knew English, but it wasn't really her strong point. Raye taught it to her and now it had become second nature to her when talking. She no longer had to think of what she wanted to say and then translate it.

            Raye, herself, came from Japan, but had changed the spelling of her name. Usagi didn't understand why but Raye said she liked it better anyway, so she didn't pry.

            _'Maybe she had a bad childhood or something else happened in __Japan__…'_

            Once, Usagi asked where Raye's parents were and why she was staying with her grandpa. Raye changed the subject quickly. Usagi got the impression that there was something she didn't want her to know. Being understanding, she never brought up the subject again.

Giving one last glance to her brother, Usagi heaved open their window overlooking a tall, gigantic tree. The branches reached out toward the window, as if telling her to climb onto them, something Usagi always loved about this house, and one of the only things she loved. She was always able to get away when she wanted to without letting her father know.

            "Ouch." Usagi grunted and scrunched up her face when her foot missed a branch on the way down and she fell on her back on another one. Slowly and painfully, she picked herself up and rubbed her back. "All this just for some comic books. I hope Raye got some new ones, though I wouldn't mind reading that one with the princess and the talking cat again."

            The girl jumped from a low branch onto the cold, wet grass. It was evening, she noticed. That meant her mother would be back soon, and she needed to get home within an hour. 

            Usagi sprinted towards the shrine, passing the bakery, library, and grocery store. She never appreciated how small her hometown actually was until now. Less running, she reminded herself. 

            Out of breath and kneeling over, she finally made it to the shrine and up the long set of stairs. When her breath returned to her, she picked herself up and walked around the back and up to a sliding door. Usagi swore the door was made out of some sort of thickened paper. Not only did it _feel_ like paper and _look_ like paper, but it also had strange markings on it, like drawings. Usagi raised her hand to knock.

            "Hey Usa," called a voice from behind her. She turned to see a young boy the same age as her and Raye. She smiled warmly at him.

            "Hi Chad. How have you been?" She left the 'paper' wall behind and dropped her arm to her side.

            "You here to see Raye?" Usagi nodded and smiled again.

            "Yeah, actually I am—"

            "—she's not here anymore, and I'm not sure when she'll be back." A look of sadness and gloom seemed cemented on his face. Usagi patted him on the shoulder. She knew he had a crush on her, and Raye was oblivious to it.

            "What do you mean she's not here?"

            "Gone back to Japan, I believe. She left with her Grandpa last night, to the airport. When he came back, she wasn't with him. And Grandpa wasn't his usual self when he returned either." He sat down on the edge of the patio and rested his chin on his fists. Something seemed wrong about his expression.

            "But why would she go back there? From the way she acted when I brought up going back to Japan, she didn't seem to like it too much," said a slightly surprised and confused Usagi. She didn't understand. 

            Chad shook his head and sighed deeply, hiding his face in his hands.

            "And she didn't say when she'd be back…?" Usagi seemed skeptical of this. Raye wouldn't leave without saying goodbye. It just wasn't like her at all. 

Chad shook his head again. "Nope…"

            Suddenly the sliding door glided open. Usagi twisted her neck around and gawked at the person standing in front of the door.

            "_Raye?_"

            "CHAD!!" Usagi watched as the dark-haired boy took off towards the stairs and the exit out of the shrine, amused that her friend went after him with a broom in hand. Finally when she had whacked him a few times, she came back to her new visitor. 

            "He said—" Usagi began but Raye interrupted.

            "Yeah, I know. Earlier he was asking me about why I disliked Japan so much." Raye started sweeping, trying to busy herself to ease the pain she felt in her heart. "And then he told you that I left so when you saw me again, you'd make me tell you and then he could bug you about it. Stupid boy." Raye's back was turned.

            "May I ask you why?" Usagi asked slowly. Raye looked her in the eyes, unblinking. She seemed to be thinking it over.

            "Bad memories…" Raye went back to sweeping again. Usagi bowed her head. She'd never know what happened. "With my parents and their divorce…" With that she walked inside. 

There was sadness in her voice that burned Usagi to the core. She wanted to follow her, but something held her glued to the wood…maybe pity? She didn't know…

"Here, I've got some new comic books that I know you're dying to read. You can have them if you'd like. Christmas is coming up anyway. Besides, I've already read them." Raye came out with a handful of comic books and dumped them onto Usagi's head.

"_Really?_ Are you _serious_?" Usagi sat in awe at all the comic books Raye was willing to give her. There must have been at least ten. "Wow! Thanks Raye!" Before Raye could say anything else, Usagi had picked up one and started to read it, mouthing the words she saw.

"Tomorrow we've got school again." Usagi's groan could be heard over a passing bus.

"I forgot! I still have to get home and do my homework," whined Usagi, setting the comic book aside. She flopped down on her stomach and rolled over onto her back. "This is sooo not fair! It's our last week of school and last week of sixth grade…" Usagi stopped complaining when Raye sat down beside her and poked her on the shoulder.

"What was school like in Japan…I never went to it there. Only here, in America," there was a solemn and almost sour note in her voice that Usagi caught.

"Well...there was still homework, but a lot less than there is here. Maybe that was because I only spent a couple of years there and was in a lower grade, but kindergarten was the best year! I loved to play dress up and be the mommy to this girl, Minako. People said we looked like twins. Maybe if I wore my hair down…"

Raye laughed. Her friend always had amusing stories to tell her, present and past.

"And my best friend in Japan, Mamoru…he would always be the daddy." A look mixed between suppressed anger and sorrow unexpectedly filled her emotional eyes. A tear fell from her eye and slid down her cheek. Usagi pulled her knees into her chest. Before Raye could ask further into this, Usagi continued.

"But then this other girl, Molly was her name, she came into Kindergarten and always had to play the mommy and be the lead singer in our made-up band. And even the star when we pretended to be movie stars. Her and Mamoru had gotten along just fine, always being the mommy and the daddy together and being the stars in a movie, but he knew I didn't like her so he tried not to play with her as much."

Raye didn't miss the bitterness in her friend's voice, partly because she didn't bother to hide it.

"That was years ago, Usa. Get over it already. Besides, you're living here now." Raye gave her a friendly smile to try and cheer her up, but she just sighed.

"Kindergarten was only the beginning though. All through school until I moved away in third grade. She was mean to me, her and the other popular kids. Picked on me and they always wore those cheesy, fake nails and those long, phony eyelashes." 

"Ah, those types of people."

"Yes, the type that would put friends against one another and make them hate each other. I've seen them do it before. I bet she hasn't changed a bit, and never will." Usagi suddenly yawned.

"And your friend, Mamoru? Have you talked to him yet or sent any letters?" Usagi's lips formed a deep scowl. Her words matched her mouth.

"Yes, I've sent him letters, but I never got back a single one," she finished with extreme distaste. 

Raye never knew about Mamoru or his promise, except when Usagi had brought it up on the first day of school.  But she hadn't mentioned him since. Raye had just thought that she had outgrown her old friends and felt it was time to move on. Now she knew the truth.

            "I'm sure he has a good reason…" Raye began, but Usagi put her hand up to silence her. Her eyes went from the ground to lock onto Raye's.

            "No." She pulled out a star-shaped locket from under her shirt and carefully handed it to Raye. "He gave it to me, promising that he'd always be my friend. He lied though."

            Raye wasn't sure what to say, so she settled on the first thing that came to mind.

            "Well you've got Chad and me now. You don't need him or anyone else!" Usagi nodded appreciatively and gave a small smile.

            "Yeah…well, I think it's time to go now. It's getting late and mom's gonna have a cow if I'm not there when she gets home." With a hug and a miniature wave goodbye, Usagi headed home.

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            Day after day went by, then year after year… yet Usagi still never received any letters from Mamoru. After the end of her middle school career, she just gave up on writing him. The locket she received as a token of their friendship went into storage in a small box with all her old barbies and dolls. She was growing up and moving on, having met her new friends Amy and Lita, and even having a boyfriend at one point for a couple of months. She never forgot him though, and often her hand unconsciously moved to her cheek where he had kissed her goodbye.

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**AN:** Alright, next chapter Usagi finally goes back to Japan to find…Mamoru and Molly?! *gasp* ^ ^* But for those that asked, this IS going to be a Usagi/Mamoru fic. And it will have both WAFFY and Taffy-ness to it.

If you'd like to be emailed with the next chapter, just leave your email in a review. And make sure it's spelled correctly too or I won't be able to spend you an update.

Please review ^__^ *innocent smile* I thank all those that reviewed my fic. It meant SOOOO much to me. You guys really have no idea ^ ^* unless you're an author yourself…


	3. Speak English, Please

**AN:** Sorry about the long wait I've had a lot going on. Groundings (of which, I might, I didn't deserve. It was NOT my fault that my dad lost his keys…), exams (horrible. I got Cs on three of them), and so many Color Guard practices and competitions (of which we received second place *wide grin*). 

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**You Promised**

_By: dragonfire onna_

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**Chapter 2:** _Speak English, Please_

***** Japan, five years later. [Usagi: 16; Sammy: 13]

            Usagi stepped out onto the platform and took a deep breath of fresh air. A slight smell of the sea and fish filled her nostrils. Yep, she was finally back where she belonged. With not a single glance back at the leaving train, Usagi smiled warmly at a couple passing by embracing each other. 

            "Usa, where are we going to go?" Sammy, who had grown into a somewhat mischievous and mouthy teenager, gently tapped his sister on the shoulder. His hair had a sandy blonde hue and his eyes changed from a light blue to a greenish-blue color depending on his mood. That was how she could always tell what her brother was feeling.

            Usagi rolled her eyes.

            "Where do you think? Nani's, of course." Usagi yawned and fully extended her arms into the bright sun in a stretch. Her hair had grown out beautifully into a thick, golden blonde bushel of healthy hair. It shined and glistened like the sun and the moon. Sammy knew how lucky she was to have hair like that, but Usagi seemed oblivious to it.

            "I don't think she'll remember us. She probably has Alzheimer's Disease. Did you even tell her that we're coming?" Sammy had a bummed and detached attitude towards this trip to Japan. After all, he was only a little boy when he was last here and didn't remember anything, including his grandma and the language. He left everything he knew in America.

            "Don't worry. This is what mom would have wanted us to do…" a sad tone in his sister's voice compelled Sammy to close his mouth and completely stop complaining. "I'm sure of it."

            "Mom would have wanted what was best for us… and she wouldn't want us to dwell on her death, Usagi. And I'm sure she'd understand why we left America for awhile. Things just weren't working out between us and _that man_. We needed time away." Sammy surely held distaste for his mother's second husband; at least he was before she died. Now he was free to marry and started dating again not even a couple months after she died.

            Their mother lost her life in a car accident during a snowstorm one evening, almost a year ago. Usagi and Sammy had been entirely distraught, but were pushed into carrying on with their daily routines because of their step-father's belief that life shouldn't halt after someone dies. That meant constant teasing from their step siblings and even their usual treatment from the dad. It was a hard loss for the two, but the other half of the family showed little remorse. Usagi and Sammy had come to Japan with their Nani's saved up Christmas and birthday money. Their father was glad to see them leave for the summer. "Useless ingrates" he called them.

            "Everything will turn out fine. Now let's go." Usagi understood how Sammy was feeling. She, too, had left her friends in Japan and went to a country that she didn't fully understand the language of anymore. Sammy, having spent much more of his life in America, was rusty on his Japanese and could barely speak more than a 'hello' to a passerby. 

            He followed closely behind Usagi, half afraid that he'd get lost and half interested in a girl giggling at him when he tripped as she waved at him. They arrived at a bus stop, or what he thought was a bus stop. After all, it _looked_ like one. When Usagi asked some people directions to their grandmother's apartment in Japanese, he could only look on with utter confusion.

            "This sucks," he muttered, kicking his foot into the ground. "Why can't we find some place in the United States? I don't know any Japanese!" Usagi turned to face her little brother and gave him a stern look.

            "Sammy, you'll pick up on it fast, and you've got to stop with the attitude here. People respect their elders and do what they're told, and that's that. If someone asks you to do something, then you do it without a word," she explained to him before climbing onto the bus. 

            "Yeah, right. Like I'm gonna understand them," he mumbled under his breath and snorted in disgust as another older boy pushed him out of the way to get on the bus first. The bus was crowded with many elderly folks. Sammy, seeing everyone staring at him with curiosity, turned his attention outside to the tall, oddly shaped buildings.

            The bus driver came to a sudden halt in front of a complex with lots of stores. Across the street was a ton of apartment buildings that were sky-high, it seemed. When the driver spoke, Usagi grabbed Sammy's hand and dragged him off the bus. Around him, people were walking passed and all the signs were written neatly in Japanese. He wasn't sure how much more he could take of this.

            "Please tell me we're almost there," he whined as he ripped his hand away from his sister's, pouting slightly. 

           "Yes, just over there," she said with certainty. Sammy nodded as he continued to gaze around, taking in all he saw.     

           "Why are all the cars white?" Usagi laughed in amusement.

           "Just come on. You'll get use to it. And you just need to refresh your memory of Japanese. You know it like I do. Besides, I, too, am a little rusty with the language." They ran across the street and into the building on the left. What they saw shocked both of them.

            "It's so nice in here, like it was built for royalty! Just look at this floor. I can see myself in it! It must cost tons of money to stay in a place like this!" Sammy was easily impressed. Around every corner were waiters carrying food trays into elevators and Bellboys helping out with people moving in and out. Maids walked around with traditional feather dusters in one hand, wearing the usual black dress with a white apron. The apartment building could rival a four star hotel.

            A man suddenly spoke from behind them, startling the two siblings. Usagi hesitated a moment before speaking back to him. The man gave her a confused look, his dark eyebrows forming downward like his frown. His hair was jet-black, like most Japanese people and was probably in his mid thirties.

            "Oh, you are Americans…" he didn't look too happy about this, as he spoke with a light tone of repugnance with an accent to match. Usagi, not really liking this guy either, gave another try with Japanese.

            "Why not stick to English?" Usagi bowed her head in respect to the elder's wish, despite the fact that the man meant it as a dis. Sammy narrowed his eyes at the male.

            "And why don't you get a life, you jerk," Sammy growled, diverting his eyes to the ground when the older man looked at him suspiciously.

            "Are you looking for someone?"

            "Yes sir. We're looking for our grandmother, Tsukino, Nichire."

            "Follow me." He led them into a large elevator and up to the 22nd floor. He let them out and into the hallway. "Over there on the right." He left them on their own and Sammy took it upon himself to lead the way. He knocked on the door and waited patiently for an answer.

            Sammy reached into his pocket and pulled out something that seemed strangely familiar to her. He held it out to her and she took it into the palm of her hand and wrapped her fingers around each curve.

            "My locket…" Usagi opened it.

            "I took it out of the basement before we left. Before someone got a hold of it and ruined it. I remember how much it means to you." Usagi fingered it before stuffing it into her pocket when the door opened.

            "Usagi! Sammy! How good it is to see you here after all these years! Come in, come in!" said a jolly old lady who much have been in her late 50s. She, too, spoke English but with that same accent. Her hair was a dark grey and was pulled into a tight bun on the back of her head, and she wore a light purple kimono. Usagi and Sammy stood in jeans and a T-shirt. How silly they must have looked to any onlooker.

            "Hello, Nani," Usagi smiled as she enveloped her grandmother a hug. Sammy hesitated before doing the same. They followed her inside and into the kitchen. For an apartment, it was rather big and spacious. The view from the balcony, which had a set of chairs and a table that you sat at on your knees, was gorgeous. It overlooked a large lake and a small botanical garden with a maze in it. Inside there were paintings and ink drawings from famous Japanese artists and lots of different types of flowers spread evenly throughout the entire residence. There were three bedrooms, small, but equally as nice. Only one bathroom, though miniature, it would do.

            "Wow, cool place Nani," Sammy said, stuffing his hands into his pocket. His grandmother looked at him.

            "Cool? Turn on heat?" she struggled to say and understand. Sammy realized his mistake. Usagi had told him earlier that they didn't understand many English slang words.

            "Oh, I meant it's very nice," he explained to her and she nodded happily in agreement. This was going to be harder than he thought. At least some people could speak some English, even though it was somewhat limited.

            Usagi tried, in Japanese, to ask Nani if she could take Sammy to the mall and search around a little bit. Sammy noticed that Usagi spoke with relative ease and seemed to remember most of the words.

            "Sammy. Come on! We're going to go out to the mall and buy some new clothes and some books on Japanese, okay?" He didn't really want to go, but agreed anyways as he headed out after his sister. 

            She pushed the 'floor 1' button. "I don't want new clothes. We're only gonna be here for a month and a half. I've brought all my other clothes and there's nothing wrong with them." Usagi chuckled at her brother's outlook on this trip.

            "After high school, I'm going to go to college. It might be in Japan." She mentioned this casually as if it was no big deal. His eyes widen and his voice turned bitter.

            "You're going to leave me then, with our step-dad, is that it? You want out so bad you're willing to leave me there for three whole years?" Usagi glanced sympathetically at him. He was immensely angry, and even though that's not why she was going to leave, the reason wouldn't matter much; she still was leaving him.

            "You know that's not true. Besides, I'll come back and visit you during every chance I get, alright?" Usagi tried to explicate, but Sammy's eyes only darkened more. She noticed that lately he was really moody.

            "And you know that once you turn eighteen, you can claim custody over me and get me out of there. That's what I want you to do. Please" Sammy's eyes were glued to hers in almost a pleading manner and she turned her head to avoid his stare.

            "But I can't concentrate on schoolwork if I have to take care of you…and-"

            "I get it. I'm just a burden on you. Well you don't have to worry about me any longer. I can take care of myself!" He shouted with an accusing tone. With that Sammy opened the doors to the elevator at the next floor and stormed off.

            "Sammy! You know I didn't mean it like that! Get back here _now_!" When he didn't comply, Usagi groaned in anger and annoyance. "All you think about is yourself! It's always 'how does this affect me?' and I'm tired of it!" She repeatedly hit the 'close doors' symbol and kicked the side of the metal shaft, slightly denting it.

            Usagi slid in misery to the red-carpeted floor of the elevator. She couldn't believe what just happened. She thought he'd be happy for her, excited even. But instead it was just the opposite. The again, maybe he was right. She really should not leave him. After all, he was the only real family besides Nani she had left and if it had been the other way around, she would want him to take her with him. She knew she had to apologize, but she wasn't sure she'd change her mind on going. She'd think about it later. Right now, the mall beckoned. 

            Usagi sighed as the elevator came to an abrupt stop on the first floor. She stood up erectly with the help of the wall and smoothed out the wrinkles in her red t-shirt that came up to just above her belly. Her light blue jeans were tight on the upper thighs but loose and lengthy around the ankles. She definitely stood out here. She instantly took her hair out of her usual hairstyle and pulled it back into a low ponytail. She looked older and more mature this way, something the Japanese respected. 

            And her Japanese wasn't so bad, not with Raye and her speaking it often at her shrine. Besides, that man was just a total snob, Usagi assured herself.

            Just as she was about to walk out, a young man, probably upper teens, stepped in front of her and knocked her down. She fell without grace and landed on her bottom.

            "Watch where you're going," he said flatly. He held out his hand to her, but she grudgingly didn't accept it and hoisted herself to her feet. She looked at his face, and his soft, gentle features. One thing stood out to her… his eyes. 

            "It's alright, mister attitude problem," she muttered in English.

            "You must be an American girl. I can tell by your accent. Just FYI, you might want to watch what you say. They teach English in school Japan and there's a lot of English-speaking tourist in this part of the country." With that, the doors of the elevator separated them. 

            Usagi clicked her tongue and unconsciously reached towards her pocket with the locket, only to find it missing. "It must have fallen out when I bumped into that jerk! This is just GREAT!" Usagi's scream was echoed back to her in the lobby. She winced at the look everyone was giving her. "Sorry…"

            She pressed the up button, looking at what floor the man got off at.

            "Floor 24? That's the top level." There were only two sweet-like apartments up there, and only the rich could afford something like that, and was reserved for important people. 

            Finally, after many minutes of waiting, it opened its doors only to reveal the locket on the ground in the corner. She jumped at it and opened it to play the music. The tune played as always. Everything seemed to be okay with it. During the middle of her search for it, a teenaged girl came up behind her and let out a sharp gasp.

            "Usagi? Usa-chan? Is that _you_?" boomed a familiar feminine voice. Usagi turned around to see her friend Minako. Her eyes brightened as she ran the rest of the short distance to her friend. Usagi tripped on an invisible rug and was sent flying through the air only to land at Minako's feet. "Yep, that's you alright!" she giggled as she helped her friend to her feet why shyly blushed.

            "Minako! How did you recognize me?" Usagi asked, ecstatic. Minako hadn't changed a bit. Still as classy and pretty as ever.

            "Like I wouldn't remember that cute face and those sky blue eyes. Of course I wouldn't forget you! What are you doing here? I thought you moved to the U.S." Her voice was as cheerful as her smile. They had been good friends in elementary school, since Darien was always two grades ahead of her, Minako was her best friend in her own grade. 

            "I'm here with Sammy visiting my grandmother.  My mother died almost a year ago and Nani thought it would be good for us to come back for a summer. Not that we're complaining. I like it better here than with my step dad." Usagi felt right at home again. She missed Minako, but the two had lost touch only a couple of months after she left. 

            "What have you been doing all these years? Did you meet any handsome American guys?" Minako probed into Usagi's life. Just like old times, Usagi laughed.

            "No, I've pretty much just focused on school and my other friends. Raye, you'd like her! Lita and Amy too. They're all really great. Amy must be the smartest girl in the world or something. Mega-genius. And Lita kicks butt in karate tournaments. And Raye, she's training to become a priestess. She used to live in Japan too."

            "A priestess? In the United States? What's her last name?"

            "Hino."

            "Hmmm… it sounds familiar. I'm gonna have to look into that." Minako dismissed the thought almost as soon as it had come. "But right now, we've got to go shopping!" Usagi giggled.

            "Where were you headed before?"

            "Up to my apartment. I've got one on the top floor." Usagi jaw dropped as they walked out onto the sidewalk.

            "Seriously? Man, how'd you get so rich?" Usagi immediately clasped her hand over her mouth and bowed in apology. Minako grinned at her.

            "You'll never guess… I co-starred in some recent movies! Great, isn't it?" Usagi mouth hung open. She couldn't even swallow.

            "How did you manage _that_?" She was still trying to recover from her shock of the apartment news, but _this_ was too much.

            "Well it started with a school play and I was picked to be Juliet. I didn't know it then, but my boyfriend's aunt was an agent and he invited her to come meet me after the play. Now she's my agent and I couldn't be happier! There's a lot more to it than that, but let's talk it over while getting a bite to eat."

            "Sure… you buyin'?" Usagi smiled innocently at Minako, who lifted an eyebrow at her, greatly amused.

            "That's my girl! That's the Usagi I know!" 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

**AN:** Anyway, I hope this chapter is worth the wait. It'll get better next time, promise. And don't worry, I've already got half of the next chapter finished. I've just got to finish it up and perhaps I'll have it up by Monday.  _ANY _critiques on my fic are VERY welcomed. I can take it, honestly.

If you wanted to be emailed with the next update and you haven't already given me your email (or not sure) then you can leave me your email.

Anyway, back to my Inuyasha fic that I've put off for WAY too long. ^^* for those that are reading it, it's not that I lost interest, it's just that I usually end up hating what I wrote so I keep rewriting it. Sorry ^^*


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